Siti Hasmah's Passing Leaves A Million Memories, Says Mokhzani

PUTRAJAYA, Sept 28 (Bernama) -- Mourning the passing of Tun Dr Siti Hasmah Mohd Ali this morning, her son Tan Sri Mokhzani Mahathir said he will forever treasure a million shared memories with her.

"There's no one last memory. There's a million memories," he said as he remembered his late mother.

Mokhzani said he was thankful for the opportunity to spend quality time with his mother during a series of recent family gatherings.

"I'm very happy that we had so much time to share with her. We've had many family gatherings in the last months, weeks, days. So, we had a lot of memories," he told reporters after his mother's funeral here today.

Dr Siti Hasmah was laid to rest at 6.20 pm at Pusara Negara in Precinct 20, here. Her husband, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, their children, and other family members were present.

A state-level funeral was held to honour the wife of the former prime minister, who passed away at the National Heart Institute (IJN) at 9.20 am today at the age of 100.

Mokhzani, meanwhile, said the family was shocked by his mother's passing because she seemed cheerful while receiving treatment at IJN yesterday.

"Indeed, we were shocked this morning because yesterday the family was with her at IJN. She was so cheerful and warm. But this morning there was a huge difference and things could not be restored, and she passed away," he said.

Mokhzani thanked everyone who helped with the funeral arrangements, including security personnel, the military, the Royal Malaysia Police, and government agencies.

"Thank you to everyone who came today. God willing, we will hold a tahlil prayer at home tonight after Isyak and maybe tomorrow and the third day as well," he said.

On Tun Dr Mahathir, Mokhzani said he was confident his father would accept his mother's passing calmly.

"(Father) is okay. But of course today is a very, very extraordinary day... he'll be okay, God willing. He'll be okay," he said.

-- BERNAMA